|
|
|
|
Major airline is hiring locally and has great perks -- In the past several years, CBS2 has been first to show you Southland companies putting people back to work. Now, a major airline is looking for workers. From the first-class section of an American Airlines Airbus A320, Juan Carlos Liscano describes the airline's LAX growth spurt, including 220 flights a day this summer to 70 destinations, and they need help now for customer service, maintenance, flight attendants, pilots and more. CBS LA
|
American Airlines flight makes emergency landing at LAX -- An American Airlines flight from San Jose to Phoenix was diverted to Los Angeles International Airport today, authorities said. Firefighters were standing by near Runway 25-Right when American flight 564 landed safely shortly before 11 a.m. In a statement, American Airlines officials said the plane "diverted to Los Angeles due to a mechanical issue." Seven passengers and a flight attendant were evaluated after reporting "minor respiratory irritation," and all were examined and released at the scene, said Brian Humphrey of the Los Angeles Fire Department. One of those passengers said she wanted to be taken to a hospital, but changed her mind, Humphrey said. City News Service
|
Las Vegas-Long Beach routes being studied by Southwest Airlines -- Southwest Airlines is catching its collective breath in 2016 while gearing for what is shaping up to be an eventful 2017. While Southwest has no specific growth initiatives planned this year for Las Vegas, the airline's third-busiest station nationwide, the company may consider service to and from Long Beach Airport later this year if it accepts slots offered from what is Southern California's smallest commercial airport. Richard N. Velotta/Las Vegas Review-Journal
|
Newport to help study whether changing JWA departure pattern would reduce noise -- Newport Beach's city manager plans to work with John Wayne Airport staff and the Federal Aviation Administration during the next few months to analyze whether changing the airport's flight departure pattern to match the contours of Newport Bay could result in less noise for more residents. The City Council gave Dave Kiff approval Tuesday to move forward with airport and FAA officials. The decision comes as the FAA is floating a proposal to narrow flight paths at 11 Southern California airports, including John Wayne, which sits on unincorporated land adjacent to Newport Beach, Irvine and Santa Ana. Hannah Fry/Newport Beach Daily Pilot
|
RivCo sheriff's deputies to conduct pursuit training at ONT Airport -- The Board of Supervisors this week authorized Riverside County Sheriff Stan Sniff to lease space at Ontario International Airport over the next five years for vehicle pursuit training and other emergency vehicle exercises that benefit recruits and sharpen current deputies' skills. Undersheriff Bill DiYorio told the board that 293,000 square feet of parking lot space near one of the airport runways was being used by the Los Angeles International Airport Police for training and could be available on select dates for the sheriff's department, as well. City News Service
|
O'Hare finally catching up with rivals in jumbo-jet space race -- O'Hare International Airport is a step closer to developing a gate capable of accommodating the world's largest passenger aircraft, reversing an embarrassing gap at the city's primary aviation hub. The city's Department of Aviation yesterday pulled a permit to build out one gate that could handle an Airbus A380 plane, in Terminal 5 at O'Hare, according to the city's permits website. Micah Maidenberg/Crain's Chicago Business
|
Not the luggage to lose: Travel bags of irate county bosses go MIA at MIA -- Any airport can lose passenger luggage, but officials at MIA probably wish it hadn't happened to these passengers. Wednesday night, at 7:09, a charter plane ferrying Miami-Dade politicians landed at Miami International. The 100 or so VIP passengers were returning from a group lobbying trip to Tallahassee - an annual excursion known as Dade Days. For more than an hour, their luggage was nowhere to be found, Miami-Dade County Commissioner Audrey Edmonson complained. Michael Vasquez/Miami Herald
|
Spirit's new CEO: Fees stay, but service must improve -- Spirit Airlines has been one of the USA's fastest-growing airlines during the past few years. But it's also become one of the most-complained about. Now, however, it appears the Florida-based "ultra low-cost carrier" is ready to adjust its course. That's according to CEO Bob Fornaro, who took over at the carrier just last month after the unexpected ouster of previous CEO Ben Baldanza. Spirit has drawn the ire of many customers not only for its long list of fees, but also for recent operational struggles. Ben Mutzabaugh/USA Today
|
United Airlines upgrades Sydney flights to Boeing 787 -- United Airlines will shift both of its daily Sydney flights to Boeing 787-9s next month, making Australia the airline's first 'all-Dreamliner' market. The Star Alliance member upgraded its Melbourne-Los Angeles route to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner in October 2014, and United's Sydney flights to Los Angeles and San Francisco will follow suit from the end of March. Alison Espley, United Airlines' Managing Director of Sales for Asia, sees plenty of upside for trans-Pacific travellers. David Flynn/Australian Business Traveller
|
How Delta's outgoing CEO tried to bend U.S. foreign policy to the airline's financial interest --Like professional athletes and mafia dons, airline chief executive rarely go out on their own terms. During the last year, Skygods were unceremoniously ousted for suspected corruption (Jeff Smisek at United Airlines) and proven incompetence (David Siegel at Frontier Airlines). Bosses also got the push when security analysts complained about profit margins (Dave Barger at JetBlue Airways) and boards demanded more strategic thinking (Ben Baldanza at Spirit Airlines). Then there's Richard Anderson, master of all he surveys at Delta Air Lines. Joe Brancatelli/Business Journals
|
JetBlue to launch a technology subsidiary in Silicon Valley -- New York-based JetBlue Airways is planting roots in Silicon Valley to develop new technology for travelers and workers in the travel industry. JetBlue announced plans Thursday to launch a venture capital subsidiary in Redwood City to invest in, support and partner with start-ups to develop new technology for the airline and hospitality industries. "The work being done today in the start-up community will define travel for years to come," said Bonny Simi, president of the new company, dubbed JetBlue Technology Ventures. Hugo Martin/Los Angeles Times
|
JetBlue offers little visibility into its revenue outlook as US domestic capacity continues to grow -- JetBlue charted impressive growth in many key financial statistics in 2015. The company doubled its ROIC, posted healthy gains in pre-tax margins and recorded a nearly 70% jump in 2015 profits. Moreover, JetBlue was one of the few US airlines that posted positive passenger unit growth during 2015. It is not clear whether JetBlue can stage a repeat performance in 2016. CAPA Centre for Aviation
|
Airlines are resorting to increasingly devious ways to charge you for luggage -- British Airways shouldn't have charged Jim Arnold and his wife $400 for their checked bags. After all, the couple were flying from London to Newark in premium economy class. But when they tried to check in, that's what the computer demanded. So they forked over their credit card number. Later at the airport, a representative apologized for the glitch. "I was told that this happens all the time," says Arnold, a retired chief financial officer who lives in Bellevue, Wash. Christopher Elliott/Washington Post
|
Southwest Airlines to pay out $620 million in profit sharing to employees -- Southwest Airlines said it will pay out $620 million in profit sharing to its employees for the airline's financial performance in 2015. The Dallas-based carrier said the profit sharing is the largest total amount it has ever allocated and is the equivalent of eight weeks of pay. It equals about 15.6 percent of each employee's eligible compensation. "Our people have built one of the world's most admired companies, and they share in Southwest's success with this third consecutive record-breaking profit-sharing contribution," said Southwest president Gary Kelly. Andrea Ahles/Fort Worth Star-Telegram
|
| Transportation Network Companies |
Uber will pay $28.5 million to settle two class-action lawsuits over safety claims -- Uber has agreed to pay $28.5 million to roughly 25 million customers to settle two class-action lawsuits related to the way the company represented its background checks and the fees it charged passengers. As part of the settlement, filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California, the San Francisco company will change the language of its safety-related advertising and stop using the term "Safe Ride Fee." Tracey Lien/Los Angeles Times
|
American Airlines partners with Uber -- When American Airlines customers book at the carrier's website, they now will receive an e-ticket confirmation with a "Remind me to Uber" icon. It's part of a partnership struck between the airline and the ride-hailing service. Also, the American Airlines app now can navigate customers to the nearest Uber pick up location at 11 U.S. airports: New York's Kennedy and LaGuardia, Los Angeles, Chicago O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, San Francisco, Washington Reagan, Phoenix, Philadelphia, Charlotte and San Jose. Danny King/Travel Weekly
|
House panel: No regulation of airline seat sizes -- A television ad during the Super Bowl described airline seating as a "21st Century torture device," which some House Democrats used Thursday to illustrate their proposal that the Transportation Department require a minimum seat space on airliners within a year. Reps. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., and Janice Hahn, D-Calif., argued that airline seats have become so close together that they could represent a safety hazard during an emergency evacuation. Bart Jansen/USA Today
|
CO Congressmen: FAA needs to act quicker to avoid fiery crashes -- A pair of Colorado congressmen plan to introduce legislation Friday that would urge the Federal Aviation Administration to require all newly built helicopters to have crash resistant fuel systems by the end of the year. The news follows a lengthy 9Wants to Know investigation into a fiery Flight for Life crash in Frisco that left a Colorado flight nurse with catastrophic and life-threatening burns on most of his body. Chris Vanderveen/KUSA-TV Denver
|
Travel groups slam GOP effort to ditch airline advertising rules -- Travel groups are slamming a Republican effort to nullify the regulations that require airlines to include taxes and fees in price quotes for flight tickets. The Travel Technology Association and American Society of Travel Agents said the proposal, contained in an amendment to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) funding measure, "would actually have the opposite effect of its purported intention and further frustrate consumers' ability to comparison shop. Keith Laing/The Hill
|
Ban e-cigs on planes? Congressman vapes in protest -- Rep. Duncan Hunter drew a deep breath and blew a cloud of opposition Thursday at a proposal to ban electronic cigarettes on airliners. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., proposed in the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to add the ban to legislation setting Federal Aviation Administration policy. She said the prohibition would complement the 30-year ban on cigarettes in airline cabins as a health risk and the ban against stowing electronic cigarettes in checked baggage cargo because of fire concerns. Bart Jansen/USA Today
|
Dem seeks to force airlines to sit families together -- A Democratic member of the House Transportation Committee is seeking to require that airlines try to provide seats that are next to each other for parents who are traveling with children under 12 years of age. Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) has filed an amendment to a Federal Aviation Administration funding measure that would require airlines "to ensure, to the extent practicable, that a family that purchases tickets for a flight with that air carrier is seated together" during flights. Keith Laing/The Hill
|
|
|
|
TSA touts new academy for agent training -- Transportation Security Administration Administrator Peter Neffenger is touting a new training academy for airport security personnel as his agency tries to rebound from embarrassing revelations about failed security tests. Neffenger said in an interview with The Hill that the new facility, which cost $12 million and is located near Brunswick, Ga., will help the TSA to better train new hires and veteran members of its more than 40,000-member workforce in one place. Keith Laing/The Hill
|
Timing, cost of high-speed rail project face legal scrutiny -- Current state plans for a $68 billion high-speed rail system would not get passengers from San Francisco to Los Angeles in the time voters were promised when they approved the project, attorneys for a group of landowners opposing the system argued in court Thursday. In addition, the state's estimated ridership figures for shorter trips are not reliable, and operation and maintenance costs are likely to exceed projections, the lawyers said. Juliet Williams/AP
|
|
In observance of Presidents' Day, Eye on L.A. Aviation will not be published on Monday. The next edition will be Tuesday, February 16.
|
|
|
|
|
|
